mtngal67
member
I'm not even sure how to begin posting as I'm sitting here in tears, not from the pain, because honestly I've been pretty darn lucky that I haven't had much of that, but because it's just been such a relief to find this group. I've spent hours reading posts from others and trying to piece together some sense of all of this "recovery" Mystery.
I had a decent stay in the hospital, everyone was nice, attentive and helpful as far as taking care of me at the moment. Had surgery Monday, Oct 5th, and went home Thursday Oct. 8th.
I did not have a machine bending my knee, and they didn't have compression stockings big enough to fit me (I'm a big gal 220 -even after losing 60 pounds trying to "get ready" for this surgery) No one made any big deal about wearing the stockings, so I'm -still- not sure it this is key or not... my dad had the same surgery, both knees one at a time, so he gave me his, which are super tight, but I can manage to stuff myself into them. But honestly, I've only worn them about 3 times for about 3-4 hours each time.
The car ride home was truamatic, I don't know if it was mental, or physical or most likely a mix of both. I had a hell of a time getting into my Ford Expedition, just could not bend my knee at all enough to get my leg into the car. After finally scooting in far enough to get in al the way and readjusting, it was just extremely uncomfortable the whole 45 mile drive home :( I bawled my eyes out half the ride home and must have apologized to my hubby a dozen times along the way.
The first few days home I had a LOT of trouble getting out of bed (which we have set up a twin in the livingroom while I'm recovering, cuz I cannot get up into my bed in my room) it seemed like anytime I got in or out of bed, even with help, I was having sharp intense pain. The third day home, we switched the side of the room the bed is on so I'm getting out of bed on my "good" leg, and that helped tons. The second night with this set up, I was able to get myself out of bed on my own. That has done wonders for my morale. (I'm the person who always takes care of everyone else, helps with everyone else's projects, events, etc. so this inability, dependency, and inactivity is messing me up mentally!)
I'm passed the whole hub-bub with giving myself shots in the stomach to prevent blood clots, and my system has adjusted to the pain meds, so I'm not nauseated when taking them. I've also weaned myself down to just taking one oxycodone about every 8 hours or whenever I notice it's starting to feel more uncomfortable than usual.
I guess my biggest issue right now is I just have no idea "where I should be" in my recovery. I know from readng other posts that everyone is different, everyone tollerates things differently, but I've read so many posts where people have 90+ ROM already at this point. I don't really know how to measure this, I'm sure tha'ts something the dr's and PT do, but I'm guessing I'm at about 45-60-ish. I can straighten it all the way with no pain. I can hobble along with my walker just fine, 3-4 laps up and down the hall and no pain, just a little bit of a "clicky" feeling. Even when i get worn out, it's not hurting, it just feels tired. My insision looks really good, and the nurses said I didn't have much bruising, although to me it looks like a lot. I'm sleeping well, which from reading the other posts I know I should be extreemly grateful for, and I do thank God for that blessing!
I do know I have to be patient, and that I've only barely just begun my recovery process... (had no idea it took 2 weeks per hour of anesthesia just to recover from that!) but I just don't know how much ROM I should have by when? Again, I know that's all depending upon the person, but surely there's some... average or something? (hence my lost feeling)
I'm hoping all these "oh my God, what did I get myself into" feelings and fears are just a "newbie knee replacement recovery patient" stage.
I just feel like I need to know "Am I recovering "right" so far?"
Thanks for letting me ramble and vent with people who "know". I eagerly await any comments, suggestions, concerns, advice you have on anything I've mentioned about my situation! And thanks for all the time you all have put in on these boards so people like me can feel like they have some sort of a grip on learning to recover.
Gale
I had a decent stay in the hospital, everyone was nice, attentive and helpful as far as taking care of me at the moment. Had surgery Monday, Oct 5th, and went home Thursday Oct. 8th.
I did not have a machine bending my knee, and they didn't have compression stockings big enough to fit me (I'm a big gal 220 -even after losing 60 pounds trying to "get ready" for this surgery) No one made any big deal about wearing the stockings, so I'm -still- not sure it this is key or not... my dad had the same surgery, both knees one at a time, so he gave me his, which are super tight, but I can manage to stuff myself into them. But honestly, I've only worn them about 3 times for about 3-4 hours each time.
The car ride home was truamatic, I don't know if it was mental, or physical or most likely a mix of both. I had a hell of a time getting into my Ford Expedition, just could not bend my knee at all enough to get my leg into the car. After finally scooting in far enough to get in al the way and readjusting, it was just extremely uncomfortable the whole 45 mile drive home :( I bawled my eyes out half the ride home and must have apologized to my hubby a dozen times along the way.
The first few days home I had a LOT of trouble getting out of bed (which we have set up a twin in the livingroom while I'm recovering, cuz I cannot get up into my bed in my room) it seemed like anytime I got in or out of bed, even with help, I was having sharp intense pain. The third day home, we switched the side of the room the bed is on so I'm getting out of bed on my "good" leg, and that helped tons. The second night with this set up, I was able to get myself out of bed on my own. That has done wonders for my morale. (I'm the person who always takes care of everyone else, helps with everyone else's projects, events, etc. so this inability, dependency, and inactivity is messing me up mentally!)
I'm passed the whole hub-bub with giving myself shots in the stomach to prevent blood clots, and my system has adjusted to the pain meds, so I'm not nauseated when taking them. I've also weaned myself down to just taking one oxycodone about every 8 hours or whenever I notice it's starting to feel more uncomfortable than usual.
I guess my biggest issue right now is I just have no idea "where I should be" in my recovery. I know from readng other posts that everyone is different, everyone tollerates things differently, but I've read so many posts where people have 90+ ROM already at this point. I don't really know how to measure this, I'm sure tha'ts something the dr's and PT do, but I'm guessing I'm at about 45-60-ish. I can straighten it all the way with no pain. I can hobble along with my walker just fine, 3-4 laps up and down the hall and no pain, just a little bit of a "clicky" feeling. Even when i get worn out, it's not hurting, it just feels tired. My insision looks really good, and the nurses said I didn't have much bruising, although to me it looks like a lot. I'm sleeping well, which from reading the other posts I know I should be extreemly grateful for, and I do thank God for that blessing!
I do know I have to be patient, and that I've only barely just begun my recovery process... (had no idea it took 2 weeks per hour of anesthesia just to recover from that!) but I just don't know how much ROM I should have by when? Again, I know that's all depending upon the person, but surely there's some... average or something? (hence my lost feeling)
I'm hoping all these "oh my God, what did I get myself into" feelings and fears are just a "newbie knee replacement recovery patient" stage.
I just feel like I need to know "Am I recovering "right" so far?"
Thanks for letting me ramble and vent with people who "know". I eagerly await any comments, suggestions, concerns, advice you have on anything I've mentioned about my situation! And thanks for all the time you all have put in on these boards so people like me can feel like they have some sort of a grip on learning to recover.
Gale